“ISTANBUL DOESN’T CONSIST OF EMINONU” // “İSTANBUL EMİNÖNÜ’NDEN OLUŞMUYOR”
Here is my twelfth column at Yasamburada.com (English translation below)
// Yasamburada.com 'daki onikinci köşe yazım
http://www.yasamburada.com/istanbul-eminonunden-olusmuyor
If foreign tourist is stupid or has a profit to promote Istanbul badly, you will teach! If tourism companies can’t tell about Istanbul truely, you will warn! Eminonu: Old town of Istanbul.. But Istanbul doesn’t consist of Eminonu.. It’s too unfair for a city of 17-millions in winters and 22-millions with tourists in summers! If foreigners come for only two or three days, only stay in Eminonu and hunt poorest, oldest, worst streets for photographs and turn back without seeing any other province, it’s too unfair!! They should see Taksim, Bosphorus, Maslak, Nişantaşı, Kadıköy-Bağdat Avenue, Bakırköy too; they are must-sees before turning back! It’s unfair to Istanbul if they photograph Arab tourists and be proud in their countries to say they are Turks! Evil action was same evil action in 19th century as foreign tourists came to Ottoman Empire and photographed thick moustached Albanians wearing fez and showed likely they were Turks to Europe, didn’t they?? Athough they knew Turks only wore calpac as a hat..
It’s natural to reflect diversity left from Ottoman Empire in Eminonu but it can’t touch Arab culture. Have you ever known that there are dummies who think the Arabic labels for Arab tourists are Turk language?? Istanbul is not somewhere that tourist should come for whatever they get attracted to. Whoever wants to see Arabs, can go to Arab countries. Or they can go to Europe, the most Arab immigrants are in European countries. Istanbul is a Turk city!
I personally already and enoughly have fights; I always write edits or corrections to photographs taken by those kind of foreigners. Even some who think they are clever and who are in fact hunters of bad promotion start wars under their pictures.. Alone, I am not enough for everywhere and everything. Some corporate things should be done. Ministry of Tourism should put hand on this too. For example you can print and deliver a welcome to old town Eminonu part of Istanbul brochure within two pages not with a cost of 1 Turk Lira! Have you ever known that millions of tourists come to Istanbul and turn back without seeing our giant canal Bosphorus??
What are those ridiculous bars for oriental and semazen shows?? Oriental is Arab dance as its name shows too: ‘oriental’; means from east! More eastern than Turkiye. Why the hell it is in Turkiye?? Why semazens turn in places with alcohol and why these spiritual people are called ‘whirling dervish’; are they dervish??
One photograph is faster and more effective than 5000 sentences, 100 letters. I do---not---want photographs of only Eminonu badly promoting Istanbul on purpose in foreigners’ cameras!!!! For the last couple of years, Brazil had the same problem too; foreigners were going to poorest gypsy areas to photograph and turning back to their countries. I can’t see any good intention here!!!